In the past four years since I started as director, I have witnessed the graduating seniors meet and overcome the unique struggles they have experienced through the start of the pandemic and our post-lockdown world. I have been impressed with their resiliency and flexibility in the face of the constantly evolving challenges that profoundly affected the usual course of their undergraduate years. I am proud of their education here, knowing they have been coached, mentored, and taught by our exceptional faculty, who creatively reimagined ways of delivering education to our students.
Like our students and faculty, our school has evolved with these changes. Our passion for design, illustration, and photography grew stronger. We trust now, more than ever, that visual communication can generate impact and change minds, especially during complex, pivoting times. We believe our students can fulfill their full potential by discovering and understanding core principles of composition, hierarchy, value, and color while exploring ways to incorporate modern tools and create solutions that people love and appreciate.
We have progressively and substantially revised our roadmap to identify additional ways of incorporating creative problem-solving into our curriculum. Notably, a design thinking course was added to the roadmap, and a new version of Glyphix is now offered to invite students to collaborate with faculty in their research projects. We have also restructured the resource room and instituted the Creative Lab, where students can meet, work, collaborate, and access the technology they need to succeed.
We are so grateful for the continued support of our school and our students from our friends and our alums' families. Whether you've donated to a scholarship, acted as a mentor, hosted one of our students as your intern, came out to see our senior shows, or helped us along this journey in any other way, we thank you. I thank you.
I look forward to hearing from you and hope we can stay connected as we navigate this journey in design, illustration, and photography education.